About MIE

Between 1995 and 2007, the Model Institutions for Excellence (MIE) Initiative was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as a means to increase the number of historically underrepresented minorities successfully completing Masters and Ph.D. programs in Science, Engineering and Mathematics (SEM). The following six higher education institutions were chosen based on their original proposal and the demographics of their respective student populations:

• Bowie State University (NASA)
• Xavier University (NSF)
• Oglala Lakota College (NSF)
• Spelman College (NASA)
• Universidad Metropolitana (NSF)
• The University of Texas at El Paso (NSF)

This multi-million dollar education initiative was funded in three phases, the schedule varies based on the supporting institution (NSF or NASA).

Discover how UTEP's model changed minority undergraduate education by reading our proposals submitted to the NSF and other historical documents, articles, and presentations.